Weather not an issue for State against William and Mary

WRALSportsFan

Weather not an issue for State against William and Mary

By Daniel Ellis

Sep 4, 2008

comments

With N.C. State attempting to rebound from last Saturday’s loss against South Carolina, concerns have arisen about the possibility of a difficult challenge for the Wolfpack. The challenge, however, isn’t with the William and Mary Tribe, but rather, with the onset of strong wind gusts and rain from Tropical Storm Hanna.

Nonetheless, coach Tom O’Brien feels confident that his team will be ready.

“We did a little work with wet ball snapping, but the main thing is that we have our concentration on Saturday,” O’Brien said. “They have to play in the weather too, so we just have to do the best we can.”

Currently, Hanna has maximum sustained winds around 65 mph. Weather reports predict that by game time Saturday wind speeds will have dropped to anywhere from 30 to 50 mph.

Luckily for State, rough weather is not an unknown aspect of the game for O’Brien, as the Pack head man faced it multiple times while coaching at Boston College.

“We played in a couple of nor'easters in Boston and you couldn’t even see the other side of the field,” O’Brien said. “Rain was going sideways and the winds were gusting 50 to 60 mph.”

When questioned about the team’s confidence following their 34-0 loss against South Carolina and the possibility of stormy weather on the way, O’Brien issued reassuring remarks.

“I think they’re fine,” O’Brien said. “They haven’t shown any ill effects. They were certainly disappointed as everybody was, but the thing about our game is that each week is a new season.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s game will remain on schedule at 6:00 p.m., regardless of weather conditions.